St. Louis’ Gateway Arch is completed

The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. Originally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the statue was proposed by the French abolitionist Edouard de Laboulaye to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the […]

Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Prohibition Amendment. The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming […]

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders withdrawal of missiles from Cuba, ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1960, Khrushchev had launched plans to install medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles in Cuba that would put the eastern United States within range of nuclear attack. In the summer of 1962, U.S. spy planes flying over Cuba had […]

On October 28, 1998, President Bill Clinton signs into law the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The legislation strengthened existing federal copyright protections.